Respect for key workers in essential sectors

Upon completion of the Paketpost Quarter, a number of the apartments being built will be reserved exclusively for essential workers, i.e. people in ‘system-relevant professions’. This is very good news and a great way to provide direct, hands-on assistance.

In Munich, housing is in very short supply. That is nothing new. But in the past ten years, rents have increased significantly – and with them, the worries of many tenants. That is becoming more and more of a problem, especially for key workers. This is because people employed in essential sectors such as health and caregiving, the police and fire service, energy and water supply, food, infrastructure, etc. usually don’t earn as much as workers in the private sector, with whom they have to compete for limited housing. They simply cannot afford to live in Munich, yet they are still expected to do their important work here in the city.

While some professional associations and trade unions are meanwhile trying to provide and/or help arrange housing for their employees, the situation is even more difficult for occupational groups that don’t have a lobby. This is something we are seeing in our daily work: for more than 25 years, the Nicolaidis YoungWings Foundation has been providing advice and support to children, teenagers and young adults following the death of a parent, both parents or the loss of a life partner. Like many social organisations, we are very much dependent on donations and unfortunately unable to pay our highly qualified bereavement counsellors as well as we would like to – even though professions like bereavement counselling and other jobs in our network, such as emergency support for people affected by trauma, play a key role in prevention. These professions are often carried out in associations and organisations that are not financially secure due to a lack of public funding. This makes it all the more important that these dedicated people are given the opportunity to at least have a secure place to live in Munich.

So in this respect, I very much welcome the news that, as part of the concept for the development of the Paketpost Quarter, a number of the apartments currently under construction will be reserved exclusively for key workers in these sectors. It still won’t be enough, but it is an extremely important and necessary step towards strengthening the backbone of our society.

This is a very practical way of providing assistance and I’m delighted that the project developer has addressed the issue and is voluntarily creating living space that is so urgently needed.

I hope that the complex will be redeveloped quickly so that employees can find a home in this central, attractive location, from which they can provide their services to the community in Munich.